ABC’s are how it all starts, first in songs and then drawing over dotted lines. But soon, the alphabets start coming together to make words that are not easy to learn. And, there is no escaping the words.

They are an integral part of a language and define communication skills in the long run. Hence, spellings must get the spotlight they deserve in the early years.

But it’s easier said than done. While writing a spelling 5 times may be an effective method of learning it, the process might make children unhappy and reluctant to learn. So, the best way out for everyone is to make spellings fun. Here are some spelling tricks that are used by educators and parents worldwide.

1. Teach Phonics

Phonics is the first step towards getting spelling rights. This is not a trick but rather a universally accepted solution for making spellings easy. Phonics is the process of relating sounds to alphabets. It introduces children to different sounds that an alphabet or group of alphabets can make.

For example, ‘A’ in Apple and ‘A’ in Rain sound different. Children don’t have this kind of information. This is where Phonics steps in and teaches them that ‘A’ makes a different sound when a word starts with it and it makes a completely different sound when it comes with an ‘I’. Profound, right! Phonics dives right to the bottom of the matter and builds from there.

2. Break Down the Spellings

Breaking down the spelling is one of the oldest spelling tricks. It involves, breaking a spelling into small parts. The broken parts may or may not make a word of their own but they must be read as they are spelled. 

For example, let’s consider the word innovative. This word can be broken into many small parts like – in+no+va+tive or just two parts like inno+vative. The key here is to focus on pronunciations so that a child can understand which word has to be repeated, where to use ‘a’ and where to put in ‘i’.

3. Use Picture Cards

Picture cards are a popular method of teaching children basic spellings. These cards come in different formats. Some may have a picture on one side and the spelling on the other. Some picture cards have both the word and the picture on the same side.

Both styles can be used to teach and test children’s spelling effectively. Picture cards work better than other formats because their trigger visual memory and most children respond better to colorful pictures than oral repetitions.

4. Say the Spelling

This trick works like magic when it comes to words that have a surprisingly different spelling as compared to their pronunciation. The trick is to read the spelling like it is written.

Let’s take an example to understand this trick. Cream – kids may spell it as creem or crim. To help them, you can break down the word into two parts, cre and am pronouncing them as they are to make the spelling clear.

Similarly, Castle – it has a silent ‘t’ ‘n the middle of it. You can help children by making an association by following the actual pronunciation with a pronunciation that has an audible ‘t’. Or they can break the spelling into Cast+le and remember that way.

5.Stick Posters at Eye Level

An easy and fun way to teach spellings is to make big posters of the problematic spellings or current grade spellings and stick them at children’s eye level. In this method, children look at the spelling even when they are engaged in other activities and memorize spellings without any stress.

If you plan to make the posters, make sure to make big ones with words spelled out in bright and favorite colors. Do not crowd the posters and if needed, write only one word on an A3 sheet. White is the best background to catch the attention. Also, this is the best way to make your kids learn your phone number (all parents must do this).

Make Time for Spellings

Spellings (words) make up the foundation of a language. A child that cannot spell, may also face trouble with reading at grade and age-appropriate levels. This is why, spellings are important and they must be learned at the right age, all of them.

Dear parents, please go ahead and use the tricks mentioned above to help your child with big and small words. You can also devise your own methods, according to your child’s capabilities and skill level. There are many more methods such as sticking spellings of household items on them, singing spelling songs and playing spelling games.

eTutorWolrd’s English tutors use all the tricks listed above and even more to help Elementary Students with their spelling. Click here to learn more about customized English Tutoring at eTutorWorld.

Whether it’s communal or solitary, reading has a significant impact on children and the way they view the world. Regardless of our age, or the size of the group, discussions about books usually transition into conversations regarding the subject. With schools having moved their curriculums online, many extra-curricular activities including book clubs have suffered. If you have students who have been affected by a learning loss due to the pandemic, you must consider setting up a virtual book club.

How to Guide K-12 Students in a Virtual Book Club 

1. Send your students an introductory video message

Before starting with your virtual book club, it is crucial to introduce yourself to the students and make them feel comfortable with your presence. Send them a short introductory video message to let them know who will be guiding them in the days to come. Tell them a little about yourself, and give them a glimpse into your style of leading a book club so they know what to expect when they start.

2. Breaking the ice

Students are relative strangers in an online reading group. Not many have the confidence to participate freely without being faced with peer pressure. Knowing each other by name will help children develop the confidence needed to share their opinions and ideas with the group. In your very first session, make sure you dedicate some time for introductions. You could ask the kids to reveal their names and other information that is not very personal, such as their favourite books or movies. Doing so will help you create an online community and help the students develop a sense of familiarity, thereby making it more interesting and engaging for the whole group.

3. Promote student-to-student discussions

When students discuss their ideas with teachers, there is always some hesitation on the students’ part. Conversations between students, however, are more personal and engaging. Promote student-to-student discussions by creating smaller groups within your virtual book club. They can start by sharing their findings in groups before you ask them to share their ideas individually. You could also ask students to write down their answers to questions before reading them out, as this will make them more confident when sharing their ideas.

4. Ask questions to promote self-reflection

During your online reading group session, you can help your students better understand the story by connecting it to their own experiences. When you ask them questions regarding the story, do it in such a way that it leads to self-reflection among the students. For instance, you can ask them questions about which character they think they may befriend, or which character they can associate with, or what they learnt from the story. Simple questions like these enable students to reflect on themselves, thereby helping them get the most out of your online reading group.

5. Acknowledge participation

Some students are more shy and reserved than others. While you encourage them to share their thoughts and opinions, make sure you acknowledge their participation by offering positive comments on their answers. You could prolong the conversation with the shier kids, but do in a manner such that they don’t feel uncomfortable. The stakes are low in virtual book clubs, but kids may feel pressurized regardless. Their experiences in an online reading group will help them learn and understand better, so encourage them to practice self-reflection and take healthy risks.

An online reading group can help students get better at reading and comprehension, which in turn will help them develop proficiency in English and find career options they love. There are plenty of other benefits of virtual book clubs , and following these simple tips can go a long way towards making your virtual book club a success.

Getting The Best Story time Options For Children

Reading is one of the best tools to help children learn. From the time they are toddlers, children become fascinated with the power of words, and this expands greatly during their formative years.

While many parents think that their child will have little interaction with reading before first grade, there are increasing studies that show children can easily learn to read in Kindergarten. This is the right time to help them by introducing phonics for kids and the sounds of the alphabet. By the time a child is in second grade, they are filled with the curiosity enhanced by story time and books. At this age, they begin to understand that books can take their minds to another place and time filled with adventure and fun.

Reading as They Grow

One of the best tools a parent has to create a hunger for learning is to have a daily storytime for the child. Parents have a daily bedtime story to tell that helps in child reading later on. However, storytime does not have to be at a fixed time of the day and should be encouraged as an interactive time between parents and their children. Books should be chosen that are age and reading skill-appropriate too. For students in K-4th grade, books with pictures are often most helpful.

Other Places for Storytime

Once a child is in school, there are many places to participate in storytime sessions apart from home. Many local libraries sponsored storytime, which allows children to interact within a group setting. They usually will choose a story appropriate to the K-4th grade group with reading programs for kids specific to their age and abilities.

After school programs and church schools often have story time as part of their curriculum as well. These are particularly popular for students attending K-4 grade.

Great Media Storytime Options

For parents who want to expand their options for children and story time at home, media devices can be perfect reading for kids’ tools. Stories can be listened to or followed along on the computer, DVDs, CDs, or on a Kindle device. These usually have an adult reading aloud and the children can read along with the help of a computer or a handheld device. eTutorWorld can help young children who are a little behind in their reading skills and need guidance. 

Online reading for kids platforms have become quite popular for families to encourage their children to participate in reading time. Parents can find a wide variety of online reading material on kids’ websites that can help a child to read along. Most of them allow parental input to improve a child’s reading skills.

For parents of second graders, some of the more advanced stories of Dr. Seuss, Berenstain Bears, The Peanuts, Disney, Sesame Street, Beatrix Potter, and Winnie the Pooh offer parents a wide variety of great reading options to enliven their minds and enhance the hunger for kids reading books. Children love to identify with the stories they read, especially when they are young. Since many of these characters are ones they see on TV, videos, and DVDs, they become a source of inspiration for kids specifically 2^nd graders.

eTutorWorld offers a number of tailor-made courses for K-4 students that help them to read flawlessly and build their vocabulary.

“A blank piece of paper is God’s way of telling us how hard it is to be God.” Sidney Sheldon

Essay writing is one of those tasks that always seem daunting irrespective of your academic qualification. Even renowned professional essay writers face writer’s block. Essay writing is as important as it is boring but at some point in your academic as well as professional life you have to write essays. It’s a skill you simply must have

A good essay should answer three questions for the readers- What? Why? and How?

The introduction should tell your reader what your essay is about, presented in such a way that it leaves the reader wanting to know more. Let’s explore the most common types of essays and tips to write them.

Most frequent essay types:-

• Argumentative essay– As the name suggests, this essay type requires you to present different arguments on the topic. Arguments must be supported by proven facts, evidence or vivid illustrations and not just someone’s opinion. There is simply no room for uncertainty in argumentative essay so avoid structures like ‘I think’, ‘I believe’ etc..
• Narrative essay– these essays test your story telling skills. You narrate an event. Narrative essays allow you to be imaginative and creative with your writing style. For writing such essays you are not required to dwell on facts and evidence. However, chronology of the events is paramount.
• Expository essay– exposes the topic in detail; illustrate a procedure step by step or how an action should be performed. This essay type not only requires research but also your own knowledge on the topic, acquired from personal experience.
• Persuasive essay– is one of the most difficult types of essay. It requires you to persuade your reader to accept your opinion. For writing such essays your language must be strong reflecting your faith in your point of view. However, your faith must be grounded in facts. You cannot expect the reader to accept your view point if you can’t prove why you believe your opinion is right.
• Descriptive essay– in this type of essays, every detail counts. Descriptive essays are usually written to describe an event, object, person or place. You must describe the prompt as vividly as you can. Your audience should be able to form a mental image of you prompt by reading your essay.

General Techniques:-

• Decode the topic– this suggestion may sound obvious but in reality it is widely underestimated. Understanding the essay prompt doesn’t require you to just comprehend the statement; you need to figure out how you should be analyzing the given topic.
  • Mark the keywords– Discuss, argue, indentify, evaluate etc. these key words tell you whether your essay should be descriptive, persuasive or argumentative etc.
  • Question words– essays usually answer what, why and how. These question words guide you as to what your essay body should be like.

Example- Discuss how advertising affect the body image of men?

The key word ‘discuss’ demands a descriptive essay. The question word ‘how’ implies that your essay should tell the affects of advertisements on males’ psychology and not the things that lead to those affects. 

• Research work– your basic research on the essay prompt should include the following questions:
• What do I already know about the subject?

(It’s ok to read up Wikipedia if you don’t know anything about the topic but don’t add it as an information source in your essay.)

• What are the interesting facts to know about the subject?
• What surprises me about this essay topic?
• Can I throw in any statistics from the studies conducted on the prompt?
• What do people generally think, say or do about the subject?
• How do experts or famous people or scholars approach the subject?
• What is my personal opinion on the topic? (Because it matters!) 

• Make a thesis statement– Establish your take on the topic. Your thesis statement should not restate the essay prompt nor should it be a paraphrased sentence. A good thesis statement subtly shows your interpretation or research on the essay topic. It should serve as a reference point to ensure you don’t stray from the topic.
• Example- “Explain the administrative tactics that made the Mongol Empire one of the biggest empires in human history.”

Don’t restate that ‘Mongol Empire was the one of the biggest empires’ that’s already mentioned in the prompt. Instead use your thesis statement to show to your reader that you have done proper research on the topic.

• “Mongol Invasions led by Genghis Khan conquered most of Eurasia before his death in 1227 but the empire reached its peak only after the death covering almost 18% of the globe.” 

• Essay structure– write down the following points:-
• Decide what type of essay you are writing.
• Second, how many paragraphs you need to write besides introduction and conclusion.
• Start with essay body then introduction followed by conclusion.
• Give a topic sentence to each paragraph then elaborate on that.

• Use credible sources–
• Google Scholar
• Check reference section of the Wikipedia page on your topic.
• Academic journals
• Textbooks
• NPR articles

      And remember

• Don’t quote too much.
• Your citations should reflect or support your opinion.
• It should not appear like you are hiding behind the words of famous people.
• Your opinion matters; it shows the skill teachers look for; your critical thinking.
• You can use quotations to present a contradictory opinion as well.
• Don’t underestimate proofreading–
• Avoid conjunctions like aren’t, don’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t.
• Print your essay. You find more mistakes on paper as compared to reviewing on screen.
• Ask your parents or a mentor to give it a glance; they’ll most likely find mistakes that your eyes missed.
• Read it out loud, if something sounds wrong then it probably is.

If writing an entire essay in one go seems daunting start by writing just 5 sentences on the topic. This trick is a great way to initiate writing. For more essay help you can join the Enrichment Program or English Tutoring Program by etutorworld. You will be surprised by the improvements these programs can bring in your writing skills.

Reading is an activity that can catapult your child directly into a fairy tale with his/her favorite characters coming to life instantly. It is a powerful tool to capture the tiny one’s emotions too. Do not worry if your kid has just begun attending Primary School and is looking forward to the upcoming winter break and festivities eagerly. Feel free to pamper her but do make sure to try and improve her skills during this period as well.

Here are a few reading techniques to try :-

• Create a Reading Routine– It is essential to make time for your child and read to her for half an hour every day despite the ongoing festivities. Choose a funny tale or a Christmas related story and watch her go all goggle eyed on hearing the lovely tale that may be a parable to a simple story to kindle her interest. This exercise will not only establish a routine but will keep her from getting underfoot as well. Feel free to explain the difficult passages so that her comprehensive skills improve accordingly. Remember to be patient as well by having a dictionary alongside in order to enhance the vocabulary. Do not stop this enjoyable exercise altogether if your kid is now able to read perfectly on her own. Just ascertain that she takes on the responsibility of being the prime reader instead of you. This will help her to focus more on unfamiliar words and ignite that spark of curiosity compelling her to learn more.

• Availability of Books– Fill your home with books so that she is driven by curiosity and eager to check the information within. Do not keep the books confined to the shelves only though. Have them available aplenty with decorated baskets revealing an interesting array of colorful books as well. Keep one handy in the car too so that she can spend a few moments turning the pages as the entire family goes away for a well deserved vacation. It would also help if she finds you reading often too. Parents happen to be role models for their children and your kid will be eager to emulate you as he aspires to be just like you.

• Convince the Reluctant Reader– Most youngsters steer clear of books today. There is a plethora of information everywhere with the school going kids being more interested in the electronic media. There is nothing superior to the process of physically holding a book and trying to decipher a story, however. It will also help your child to unleash her imagination in a big way. Trying to coax a 5^th or 6^th grader with books will only end in sorrow. Instead try a subtler method by mentioning space stories, adventure tales and school stories to your children so that their interest is piqued. Hand the book to them instead of recounting the story. This will cause them to read the rest of the story instantly in order to know the outcome.

• Reading without books– If you are the parent of a 12 or 13 year old then you should not try to force them into reading ever. They would not want to be recognized as bookworms or nerds thereby risking ridicule from peers. Observe her reading habits discretely. Is she skimming through the information or simply scanning the sentences for obtaining information the facts. You can always ask your son or daughter to look at the road signs and billboards and quiz them about it en route to your holiday destination. If your child clamors to be taken to a movie, reward her but only after she gets you the relevant facts. If your daughter or son aspires to be a Master Chef, you can always ask them to read through the recipes from your favorite cookbook and follow the instructions to a T. Going through congratulatory emails just before the holiday season begins will also keep them enthused about reading too.

School teachers may not always be attentive enough to decipher the first tell-tale signs of your child falling behind in reading & comprehension. Do not wait until the issue turns serious. Encourage her to master different types of reading skills and help her further her education. You may also enroll your child in a free session at www.etutorworld.com  thus helping her to excel in the near future.